Why leaders have so much influence on workplace culture

Culture is the water we swim in. Like a fish in water, it’s not obvious to those who are immersed in it but it’s obvious to those on the outside.

And since culture is created by the people who inhabit a place, it stands to reason that each employee in a workplace has equal weight in how they impact culture.

Wrong.

Leaders have a stronger impact on culture because they act as a role model to what employees should expect and how to behave. Positionality, or how power plays a role in social settings, is a major factor to this impact.

When people are in positions of power those without that same level of power tend to either look up to or fear those in power. Even that super chill boss who tells everyone that they have a flat organizational hierarchy holds power because power lies with those who make the final decisions.

Knowing that leaders hold a certain level of power helps us understand why they have so much influence on organizational culture. While each employee does make integral contributions to upholding the culture, the leader is the one who defines it while encouraging those to follow suit.

For example, if there is a culture around celebrating birthdays by bringing in a card and some sweet treats but the boss continually forgets to sign the card or regularly misses the gathering, people will begin to get the message that birthdays are not important in their organization. Then those who were on the fence about celebrating birthdays will abandon the cultural practice and it will slowly fall apart. However, if the boss makes a concerted effort to help make the day be special by being present and partaking in all activities, everyone will get the message that birthdays are important while embracing the practice with enthusiasm.

And for the record, birthdays, anniversaries, and other big events ARE important. They are a small gesture that can be a wonderful opportunity to recognize and appreciate your team.

Workplace culture is how you do things. It includes the way you communicate (Slack, Gmail, Gchat, Zoom) and also how you communicate (with what level of professionalism as well as how friendly and respectful). Culture is how you set up meetings, what level of personal details you know about one another, how you work together versus independently, and how the office or virtual environment is set up. It is the traditions, expectations, and knowledge around how you get the work done at your organization.

And because of this, workplace culture majorly impacts the health, wellbeing, and productivity of each and every employee.

A toxic workplace culture is one that might have a high turnover, promotes competition over collaboration, micromanaging, and working around the clock. It might encourage burnout and cause a consistent medium-high level of stress due to an abnormal workload, poor communication, and leadership styles. While stress is a normal part of life, it starts to impact health when it becomes regular. The stress and coping with the stress can then take up necessary time and energy that could have been better put to use to get the job done.

It is no wonder why the top “culture champions” in a study of 500 companies consistently had better returns and outperformed in their industry. In this same study, it was also determined that toxic culture was the strongest predictor of the company’s attrition, or turnover, rate.

Being an effective leader means having the necessary skills to positively influence their organization’s culture to one that upholds wellbeing. Valuing wellbeing is no longer enough. In order to create the best impact, stay competitive amongst hiring, and reach their goals, leaders must accept this high level of responsibility while actively creating and upholding a culture of wellbeing.

Don’t know where to start? Work with me to develop your leadership strategies and improve your organizational culture today!